Expert: Mark J. Markus- California Bankruptcy Attorney - 10/24/2008

Question
Hello,

My husband just lost his job and will be getting a severence pay of four
months. We are already 4 months behind in our mortgage and now for sure
are not going to be able too make future payments with other debts such as
irs and state taxes and student loans that we owe as well. If our house
forecloses can we still file bankruptcy after the house forecloses? Or is it
better to  file before? We are worried because I have been told that the law
uses the last 6 months and we will be over the means test level for a family of
four in illinois by a couple thousand... very confused.. please help if possible.
Thank you for your time.

Answer
You need to have an attorney analyze your entire situation.  There's no way to answer your question without doing that.  It is usually best in general to file bankruptcy before the foreclosure, for many reasons, including your ability to use the contractual payments due on the mortgage as part of your means test budget, but again, there are many variable and each jurisdiction has different rules and interpretations.